


A CATastrophe Waiting to Happen

by UltimateGamer101



Series: UG101's Multi-Chapter Undertale Stories [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Hopefully This Is A Fluffy Story, I Try To Write Fluff But Angst Always Butts In Like Jerry, I don't know, Multi, Named Reader, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader's Name Won't Be Said Often Though, Slow Burn, The Kittens Don't Know, There Are Kittens, Things aren't always what they seem, Why Did I Write This?, oh yeah, there might be angst, you don't know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-10-30 17:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10881633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateGamer101/pseuds/UltimateGamer101
Summary: Arriving home, you stumble over a box of... kittens?Why are there kittens packaged at your door?And why do they look like Undertale AU Skeletons?





	1. Special Delivery!

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Spooky Scary Skele-Kitties!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482507) by [Optima_chama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Optima_chama/pseuds/Optima_chama), [UltimateGamer101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateGamer101/pseuds/UltimateGamer101). 
  * Inspired by [Spooky Scary Skele-Kitties (Neoma and Nyx's Version)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7738624) by [ShadowFoxDemon27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowFoxDemon27/pseuds/ShadowFoxDemon27). 



> Once I decide which AU's to involve, I will make a list of AU ownership in this beginning note =)
> 
> ~AU Ownership~  
> Undertale- Toby Fox  
> UnderSwap- popcornpr1nce / Community AU  
> UnderFell- Community AU  
> FellSwap- sansouls / Community AU  
> StoryShift- voltrathelively  
> UnderMafia- kiatokid  
> UnderLust- nsfwshamecave  
> DanceTale- teaandstars  
> OuterTale- 2mi127  
> ReaperTale- renrink  
> UnderTone- articray200  
> ScienceTale- talkingsoup  
> Epictale- yugogeer12  
> Aftertale- loverofpiggies / Crayon Queen  
> Errortale- loverofpiggies / Crayon Queen  
> Inktale- comyet / Myebi

The manor was an old, large, and empty place, a sprawling maze of passages and hallways that made it easy to get lost, with rooms of all purposes scattered about. The insides of this place were richly furnished and well maintained, lovely cherry wood floors laid out in pristine condition and walls painted in various shades of red... It was beautiful, a home that many admired and desired.

Of course, as if that wasn't enough, the outside areas were equally beautiful. Rich, red, brick walls made up the perimeter, deep green ivy climbing up the walls and wrapping around balconies of black wrought iron, complementing the red and black color scheme nicely. As one followed the ivy to the ground and moved away from the walls, a lovely garden filled with many types of flora surrounded the manor, going on for quite a distance until it met well-secured walls around the very perimeter of the property itself...

It was a lovely, safe, and secluded place, which the townspeople nearby left alone to its two occupants.

That was why the box in front of the door was unusual.

Naturally, being blind, you'd just tripped right over it and into the door, not expecting anything to be there in the first place. As you brought a hand up to massage your nose, which ached from the collision with the door, you wondered with some irritation whether this was another of your brother's so-called pranks.

They weren't really pranks, but he thought they were funny, so you went along with it.

A rustling from within the box caught your attention, and you furrowed your brows in slight confusion. Something in the box was alive? Multiple somethings, you could hear more movement than could be justified by one creature... but why would your brother leave a box of live creatures on the doorstep?

Grasping the box in both hands, you brought yourself to a standing position, a murmured apology for the earlier roughness said to those within. They probably couldn't understand you, but animals often responded well to the low and soothing tones that accompanied apologies, so it couldn't really hurt to do. Hopefully they'd calm down by the time you could get the box open- it wouldn't do to have any outbursts.

"Brother... I'm home..."

Once you were inside, the door closed firmly behind you, the box was brought into the nearest sitting room. This was where your brother often stayed at this time of day, working on his laptop with the coffee table covered in papers and empty mugs. He claimed this was done out of boredom, but you knew what he did when things got truly boring, and this lovely picture wasn't it.

You began to wonder where the creatures in this box had come from.

"Seint... I found a box on the doorstep..."

Nearby, you heard the soft whisper of cloth and paper, and turned to face that direction. The creatures within the box seemed to have settled down, as there was much less movement from within. It was almost as though they were listening...

"Ah, that must be the specimen I've ordered. Was there any mail with it?"

You'd forgotten to check the mailbox.

"No matter, just give it here. I'll go ahead and look later on."

Without waiting for a response, he slid the box from your hands and began heading off to another room. You followed, of course, curious as to what he would need live animals for. His research was the most likely answer.

The tearing sound of tape from cardboard met your ears, and after a few moments of silence, a displeased sound escaped your brother's throat. More tearing was heard, and after the significantly lighter box was tossed into your fumbling arms, the sound of thick plastic on wood was heard.

"Disgusting. And not at all what I requested. Can you believe that they sent me kittens? I requested a fully grown Labrador, not a dozen or so infant felines with dyed fur and weird clothing."

You blinked your unseeing eyes and set the empty box to the side, slowly moving forward to stand to your brother's left. Kittens? With dyed fur and weird clothing? What did they look like?

"The patterns look familiar, interestingly enough. It seems whoever dyed the fur of these felines had an appreciation for Undertale, what with their patterns and outfits matching a certain amount of skeletons you like. Maybe this was a package for you! Too bad you can't see them, these are right up your alley. Hah, alley! Alleycats!"

With an unexpected prod to your side, you jumped a little, before relaxing and pouting at your brother's teasing. He seemed to be in a good mood today... Perhaps he would be willing to tell you what skeletons they represented?

"They even have cute jangling collars with the names in Braille! Yep, this is probably for you! As such, you're taking care of them. Better hope they don't wander down to the basement while I'm doing research!"

Alas, no such luck. 

Moving you closer to the table, and subsequently the kittens in the thick plastic carrier, your brother laughed again and walked away. It was quiet for several moments as he moved out of earshot, silence settling over the room, and you stood still for some time before coming to a decision and taking the carrier in your arms. You'd take care of them. Who would be willing to take in a large amount of kittens besides you, anyways? The house was big enough for them, and you had enough money to take care of them. This was the best option for now.

"...sorry about my brother... he doesn't mean any harm..."

Carrying the carrier- carrying inception!- you navigated the winding hallways of the manor with an ease that only came from living there your whole life. The kittens within were very quiet, but that was normal for cats, from what you knew. They were still adjusting, and adjusting to a new environment rarely happened overnight.

Once in your wing of the manor, you closed the door that led to the rest of the place, and set down the carrier to be opened. This was safer for the felines, as there weren't many entrances to the basement here, save for unused passages and the like intended for servants in the old days. Most of those passages were securely locked or sealed over during the multiple renovations of this place.

"...I'll have to research what foods are safe for feline consumption... you're probably hungry after however long you've spent in this thing..."

As you felt around the latch and finally opened the entrance door, a raging ball of fur flung itself at your face, and you squeaked in surprise more than pain at the scratches you felt across your forehead. If that swipe had been even a little lower, your eyes would've been hit, and that would've been more painful than these little things... Fortunately, these cats were still kittens, and their claws were small. That made it easier to remove the unruly feline from your face, and after recovering from the surprise of that swift attack, you reached over to feel at the collar for the nametag.

A smile of amusement spread across your cheeks as you read the name, the squirming feline still clawing at your skin to little effect.

"Red... that's very appropriate for your attitude so far, little one... Edgy McMyChemicalRomance..."

You waggled your eyebrows, and after feeling the warm dribble of blood down your forehead, set the kitten Red down in favor of dabbing the scratches dry. Bleeding felt particularly gross when you couldn't see the wound.

"Hmm... I assume you're all curious about this place... I'd like to know your names before you wander off, though..."

Holding out a hand with your fingers unthreateningly downwards, you waited patiently for a kitten to approach, before gently lifting the small creature up onto your lap and feeling for the collar. It simply sat there, getting comfortable in a slow fashion, and you chuckled slightly at the name.

"Slow to run just like your namesake, hmm? Honey is a very sweet name to have..."

A paw batted irritably at your knee, and moving swiftly, you captured the kitten responsible and read their nametag. He squirmed quite furiously, but you were well-versed in holding uncooperative creatures, and you may have had a slight advantage over other animal handlers...

"Now now, be nice Edge... puns may not be to your liking, but others are certainly appreciative of them..."

Releasing Honey and Edge, you held out your hand again for another kitten to approach, a thoughtful expression on your face. If UnderFell and UnderSwap were included, the Classics had to be around somewhere. Of course, brother had said that there were a dozen or so kittens present, so how many universes were included?

Fortunately, you had the time to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of focusing on my other stories... whoops.
> 
> Feel free to request AU's below x3


	2. Virtual Reality: A Possible Cure For Blindness?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: Science, Get On My Level.

"How interesting... Undertale, UnderSwap, UnderFell, SwapFell, Outertale, Dancetale, UnderLust, UnderMafia, StoryShift, Epictale, Aftertale, Inktale, Errortale, UnderTone, Sciencetale, Reapertale, and GasterGang..."

You released the last kitten, the twitchy Error whom had promptly stopped touching you as soon as the option was available. Whoever had named and dyed the fur of these kittens had certainly caught the personalities nicely, that was for sure. It made you wonder if they were more intelligent than other cats, what with the Sans and Papyrus and Gaster equivalents of the Multiverse being more intelligent than the average monster, but that was something you'd only be able to discover through time.

"From Undertale, we have the Classics- Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster... From UnderSwap, we have Blueberry, Honey, and Swap... From UnderFell, we have Red, Edge, and Fell... From Outertale, we have Orion, Pluto, and Stars... The previous four Gasters named are from the Gaster Gang, and the final main Gaster of said AU is Blindy, the Gaster of Newtale... and from SwapFell, we have Raspberry, Caramel, and Rapids..."

Holding out a hand for a kitten to approach, you leisurely scooped up the first kitten to do so, and gently scratched the fur behind their ears until they were purring.

"UnderMafia, we have Mafioso, Sniper, and Consigliere... StoryShift, we have Chara, Asriel, and Flowey... I've never understood shift-type universes other than Swap, sorry to say... Anyways, UnderLust, we have Lust, Flush, and Desire... From Dancetale, we have HipHop, Latin, and Tango... I'm sorry Tango, but I'm gonna call you Waltz instead, because Tango is a ship that I really appreciate for existing."

As the kitten in your hands expressed its desire to leave by hopping off, another kitten took its place, snuggling rather inappropriately into your chest. You didn't really care though, other than to hold him in place so he couldn't go elsewhere in search of trouble.

"Aftertale, we only have Geno... Same with Epictale and UnderTone, there's only Epic and Tone, even though there should be more... Sciencetale also only has Sci... Inktale only has Ink... And Errortale only has Error... But lastly we have Reapertale, with Death, Reaper, and Magic... That, I must say, is a lot of kittens..."

You took a mental count to figure out exactly how many kittens you had on your hands, taking a quiet breath as you pet the kitten on your chest.

"...37. How did all of you manage to fit in that little carrier, huh? That's some Tardis science right there..."

At a curious mewl from the side, you set the kitten on your chest down and sat up, stretching a bit before bringing yourself up to a standing position. When nobody else was around, you had a habit of letting your guard down, and sometimes ended up talking to yourself. Now with kittens around, you had the excuse that you were talking to _them_... even if it was only an excuse.

"You kits probably haven't seen Doctor Who. Being honest, I haven't seen too much of it myself, only shows from the time of the Eleventh Doctor, but I know enough to get by on my nerd quizzes. For your learning pleasure, the Tardis is the machine that the Doctor uses to travel through time and space, making sure that history plays through correctly and the timelines aren't screwed up."

Suddenly noticing the similarities between Doctor Who and Undertale, you tilted your head thoughtfully, and set off towards the kitchen of your wing.

"Huh... Kittens named after Undertale AU skeletons, and Doctor Who, both subjects of which are highly relevant to time and space. Is it only a coincidence, or is the universe is trying to tell us something? Nobody knows."

You could almost feel the weighted stares of the kittens on your back.

"Relax, kits, the fourth wall is still intact... I have not made contact with higher beings, nor am I absolutely certain that there even are any higher beings. What I just did would be referred to as _leaning_ on the fourth wall... Uncertainty is the glue keeping the fourth wall in one piece."

Entering the kitchen, you took out six bowls and filled them with water, setting them on the floor under the table. That way, you wouldn't run the risk of stepping on them in a moment of forgetfulness and causing a mess, and the kittens would probably stay out from underfoot as well.

"Hmm... I remember hearing somewhere that milk was actually bad for cats... but I'm not certain. This is why the internet exists."

Setting a glass on the counter, you went ahead and obtained the milk from the fridge. The soft padding of paws on the countertop was noted as you did so, and you scratched the kitten responsible behind the ears as a reward for their bravery in approaching you. Unfortunately, you didn't have much else to offer, and set about pouring yourself that glass of milk.

Tasty.

And now you were bored. Boredom is never a good thing. Just ask Frisk.

"..."

Putting the glass in the sink, you stuffed your hands into your vest pockets and wandered off out of the kitchen. The kittens'd be fine on their own for a while, and knowing that they were wearing the clothes of their AU namesakes, you were wanting to play that virtual reality version of Undertale you'd created with your brother to get around your blindness. 

He'd explained the VR device itself as bypassing the eyes by sending signals directly to the occipital lobe, and there was a less customizable version he'd decided to sell to the general populace. That was actually where a good deal of his money came from, alongside his research.

Heh, maybe you'd hook up the visual output to a screen so the kits could watch if they wanted to. They might not appreciate the irony of their names and the situation, but you could do so for them.

With a decision made, you set off to the game room, entering and making your way over to the VR room. A bulky helmet was put on, and as you carefully turned on the device, light and color flared into your vision. The galaxy-themed startup sequence never ceased to make you smile- it was unfortunate that your brother couldn't figure out a way to return your vision fully, but you were okay with only this. It was much more than others in your situation could hope to acquire, anyways.

Realizing that you'd forgotten something, you pulled on the special gloves, shoes, elbow pads, knee pads, and belt designed to work with the station to accurately determine your movements. They were more accurate than their camera based counterparts thus far, and as such, you used them. Dodging was rather important in this game, after all.

Selecting 'Undertale', the game was loaded, and you stared upon the Save Screen. Halfway through a Neutral Run...? Nah. In celebration of the kittens' mysterious arrival, you'd RESET and go through a True Pacifist Run. There was nothing better you could think of to do.

**[RESET?]**   
**[Yes] [No]**   
***[Yes].**

* * *

Elsewhere in your wing of the manor, most of the kittens were still roaming around, testing the limitations of their new cat forms. Naturally, it was Papyrus leading the way, his brother in close _purr_ suit- "OH MY GOD SANS"-, and the others not far behind.

The overall group had come to a quiet agreement in the carrier that they'd stick together until they found a way back to their original forms. A few didn't agree, but they'd been outvoted, and there wasn't much the skeletons could do in these fluffy new forms of theirs. Thus, they had no choice but to go along with the majority for now, and as such followed along in disgruntled silence.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE GOT HERE AND WHY WE ARE CREATURES OF THE FELINE VARIETY!!! DOES ANYONE WANT TO SAY ANYTHING RELATING TO THIS MATTER???"

Naturally, Blueberry took charge. He was confused and perhaps a little bit scared, but there were others present who were likely feeling the same things, so he had to be strong for them. Surely their own fears would diminish with the Magnificent Sans looking after them!

"...maybe we should start with the human? i mean... we're supposedly here for them, as their brother said when he removed the box..."

Surprisingly, it was Tone who meowed up a suggestion. Being a solo Sans- and a blind one at that- he was off to the far side of the group, walking carefully next to the wall for ease of navigation. The black and white scarf of his brother shimmered softly in the light, wrapped neatly around his neck over the cream sweater he wore.

"A MARVELOUS SUGGESTION! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE HUMAN HAS GONE, BY ANY CHANCE?"

There was a collective denial amongst those who were speaking, and Blueberry sneezed in disappointment. It was adorable- but fortunately, not adorable enough for the next speaker to be distracted from his say.

"Perhaps we should put our new noses to good use. Felines do possess a superior sense of smell to humans and most types of monsters, after all. It is the next logical step towards locating our host."

Classic Gaster's tail curled neatly around his paws as he spoke, the tip flicking occasionally as his gaze shifted from kitten to kitten. Some he was familiar with due to his time in the Void, from stories told by his alternate selves, but others were as new to him as he was to them. Fortunately, nobody seemed very keen on acting with violent tendencies- a surprising fact, particularly with his knowledge of the UnderFell skeletons, but perhaps they found it necessary to observe first and act later as well. Who knows?

"WELL THEN, LET'S GET TO IT AND PUT OUR HUMAN HUNTING SKILLS TO THE TEST!"

Pluto delicately sniffed the air after saying this, and without further hesitation, bounded off along the trail.

"HEY, WAIT FOR ME!"

Asriel ran after the other quickly, his ears flopping cutely atop his head as he did so. Thus the meeting was temporarily adjourned, and the kittens went on the hunt for their prey.


	3. Okay. You May Or May Not Be Rich.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skelekits continue their conversation, and you have a lot of area to yourself.

"found 'em. looks like they're playing a game of some... sort..."

HipHop trailed off, watching you move about the room from his place in the doorway. From what he could tell, you seemed to be doing some sort of workout, moving from side to side in a smooth pattern almost reminiscent of dancing... It was perfectly reasonable that he wouldn't immediately notice the game being played for a few moments, in the face of such movement.

"Intriguing. They seem to be partaking in some sort of battle simulator focusing upon diplomatic relations."

Somehow, Stars was the next on scene, beating out the more hyperactive skelekits by a few mere moments. However, it was Classic Sans which noticed something in particular about this game...

"...no. there is no way what i'm thinking is what i'm seeing."

An inquisitive head-tilt from the Outertale Gaster was all that Sans needed to elaborate.

"they're fighting _us_. that's papyrus. his attack patterns. _my_ papyrus..."

Silence followed this declaration, as the various kittens took in what this meant.

"...DOES THIS MEAN THEY'VE BEEN WATCHING US? THAT'S A RATHER STRANGE THING FOR A HUMAN TO DO... EVEN IF THEY DO SEEM TO KNOW US. PERHAPS WE HAVE MET BEFORE, AND SIMPLY FORGOTTEN?"

Papyrus could see the fear and confusion upon the furry faces of his fellow kittens, and took it upon himself to reassure them. Of course, this didn't go quite as planned, with the Fell version of Gaster entering the conversation in a rather calculating manner.

"No, this isn't a battle simulation. Look at the way the human is carrying themself- far too relaxed for serious combat training. Also, they haven't taken the FIGHT option even once- this is merely a game of some sort."

After the short silence that followed this assessment, it seemed that Raspberry grew impatient, as he casually sauntered over and leapt onto your leg with his claws digging in deep. No doubt, this was intended to elicit a pained reaction, but you were used to such piercing-type injuries, and it showed in the simple way you picked him up whilst ducking beneath a virtual bone attack.

"S-salutations, little one... I suppose you got bored... my apologies for not having the proper equipment..."

He was not pleased with these circumstances, and this sentiment was made clear by the bite he aimed at the nearest area of exposed skin. However, your reaction was not what he expected- a giggle.

You _giggled_ at him. You fucking dared to _giggle_ at the Malevolent Sans.

"I feel the sudden urge to rename you Doomfanger... the beast with a deadly bite... but alas, some names are already taken..."

The watching skelekits were, overall, rather amused by your treatment of the violent Sans. It was careful, even through his testing attacks, and that said a lot about who you were as a person... Perhaps you were a good human, despite whatever this virtual game was. Granted, you had no idea that these kittens were actually the skeletons you were familiar with, but still.

"welp, they seem alright to me. they're not attempting to harm m'lord, and they're not attacking in that game of theirs."

Caramel made his presence known, licking a paw adorably as he stood to the side. Next to him was Flush, stretching against the doorway in a very catlike manner- seems like those two were already comfortable with their new bodies.

"WE HAVE SEEN UNIVERSES WHERE OUR LIVES WERE TV SHOWS BEFORE... EVEN MOVIES! HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT?"

Red spoke up, rolling his eyelights- his eyes, rolling his eyes. He didn't have eyelights in this body.

"those movies you're talking about were fricken pornos that you made of your bro and his many partners. and then you showed them to us in the multivoid."

Epic stared at the three, an amused expression on his face as he regarded Red in particular.

"red, bruh... like you're one to talk bruh."

It was true. Red was a kinky bastard, he was, and the salty attitude about being stuck in kitten form was real.

"ehhh fuck off. not my fault you can't get laid."

Fortunately, the approaching argument was diverted off course by a hiss from the human- everyone's attention being redirected towards you.

"Ffffffffffffffffrick. Raspberry, why do you do this to me..."

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the irritable kitten had decided to make an ass of himself by pouncing on your feet when you were dodging- an admirable, if not slightly dangerous distraction tactic. He was certainly dedicated to getting his daily dose of attention.

After finishing up the date with Papyrus, you saved the game and removed the virtual reality gear, putting it away so as to focus upon Raspberry.

"Okay then, I'm shortening your nickname to Razz... Believe me, it suits you."

The kitten in question climbed up your back and onto your shoulder, impressively quick to do so once you'd begun moving for the door. Ahead, you could hear soft mewls and growls, as though the kittens had gathered there... what odd behavior.

Careful not to step on any paws or tails, you made your way out into the hallway, and began to wander towards your music room. Listening to music could be very relaxing, and it was something you rather enjoyed doing after some light exercise, so you'd dedicated an entire room to it. The soundproof walls had been installed specially for this purpose- total immersion.

Behind you, the skelekits followed, still conversing amongst themselves.

"so, they're not inherently violent. that's a point in their favor."

Classic Sans spoke up first as they followed along, his gaze shifting between Raspberry and the human. The assertive Sans upon your shoulder smirked down at him, and he rolled his eyes as Reaper continued with his own assessment.

"I THINK THEY'RE QUITE NICE, DESPITE THE STRANGE ENERGY AROUND THEIR SOUL. IT'S ALSO NICE TO BE ABLE TO TOUCH MORTALS WITHOUT KILLING THEM, SO I'LL BE ENJOYING THIS WHOLE 'CAT' THING WHILE IT'S GOING ON."

Oh yeah. Still a god of death, even if he was a Papyrus. A terrifying cinnamon roll with vast power.

...most of the skelekits still avoided him, just in case the death touch thing came back.

"...does anyone remember how we got like this?"

The soft question from Tone had everyone pausing in conversation for a second, silence falling over the group as they considered the situation.

None of them were quite certain what had occurred to make them this way. It could be assumed as a malfunction in their machine in the Multivoid, but for it to happen to everyone while they were in the middle of doing completely unrelated things in completely different universes? Either this was a freak coincidence and the Multiverse was laughing at them, or someone had deliberately turned them into kittens and left them on this human's doorstep.

The quiet atmosphere was disturbed by Consigliere, speaking up from his location near the back of the group.

"I suppose this silence means that not a single one of us has a good theory."

More than one kitten twitched in surprise at his comment, having forgotten that the suited Gaster was there. It seemed that even in feline form, he was good at his job.

"why don't we try going over things verbally? i was sleeping at my sentry station in hotland, waiting for the human to leave waterfall."

Ah, Sans, truly the laziest of skeletons when he wanted to be.

"I WAS PREPARING TO CALL THEM TO SCHEDULE A HANGOUT WITH UNDYNE!"

Undertale was up first for storytelling, it seemed. Now all that was left was Gaster.

"I was in the multivoid, performing a simple diagnostics scan over the equipment in the lab. The last thing I recall is retrieving my coffee from the desk, and then I woke up in the box. Swaps, how about you?"

The three present skelekits from the Swap universe became the focus of attention, and naturally, Blueberry stepped up to the plate.

"THE LAST THING I RECALL BEFORE WAKING UP IN THE BOX IS THAT I WAS PATROLLING IN SNOWDIN, NEAR THE RUINS DOOR."

As Blueberry spoke up, soon after did Honey, adding in his piece of the Swap puzzle.

"i remember hearing a loud groan, as though i'd just told a particularly bad joke and blue was reacting to it. next thing i know, box city.

Beside the two brothers, River was humming a quiet tune to himself, and it took several moments before he registered the stares of everyone else upon him.

"Oh! I was in the mansion with the other Gasters and some Sanses, trying a new recipe for soup! It was only half cooked when I became aware of myself here. And it was a carrier we were in, not a box. The box was only the outer layer."

For several moments, there was another long silence. 

The information seemed to be useless, and with their current forms as cats, they couldn't quite use their magic to try enhancing their memories... It was still there, of course, just a bit out of reach, as though it had been disconnected and turned into a blanket somehow. What wasn't known was whether their magic was being suppressed by an outside force, or being expelled by an inside force, and that was an important distinction that had to be made.

...

After a few moments, the group came to realize that you'd stopped outside a door nearby, and quickly came to a halt. Watching you remove Raspberry from your shoulder was an amusing distraction they appreciated- the tiny edgelord was adorable in his reluctance to give up his perch- but it was eventually done, and you could inform the kits what this room was for.

"Okay then... This is the soundproof music room, created for blasting the music at full volume and not being yelled at for it... although I don't usually play it too loud, because my hearing is sensitive. If any of you wish to join me, feel free to come in, but otherwise you're free to continue exploring... Haha, I don't know why I'm explaining things to cats, but why not? You seem intelligent enough."

The perception of the blind human before them was... rather interesting, actually.

"Anyways, I'm going to be staying in here until I go to bed or just fall asleep in there, so make a wise decision... I don't want any of you getting stuck in here until morning, so it'd probably be best to stay out here, but I won't stop you if you wish to join me."

Opening the door, you considered your probability of just reading too much into things again, but ultimately dismissed it. You'd been reading too much into things for a long time. Talking to cats that may or may not understand you wasn't nearly as bad or harmful as it could be- besides, cats and dogs learned people's voices and mannerisms by listening to them. That was how they understood commands, of course.

Waiting for a few moments with the door open, you heard only four kittens enter the room, and you smiled at the others before entering the room yourself and closing the door behind you. Now then... time to play some music, and pass out for the night.


	4. Humans Have Magic Technology. This Is... Unexpected.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You follow the orders of a cat, and seven kittens learn something important about the universe they have found themselves in.

It was early morning.

The sun had risen, and it was time for you to get up and face the day ahead of you.

But why were you covered in a pile of small, furry bodies?

...

Ah, yes, the kittens. A whole bunch of them had been dropped off in a carrier with practically Tardis science in it, and the nametags on their collars had been written in Braille, so it was pretty clear they'd been sent to you. They chose to group together instead of scattering and wandering about the way that cats normally would, and they'd been named after the main skeletons from the Undertale fandom.

For a fleeting second, you wondered if they'd been cold, and if that was why they snuggled up to you in your sleep. This thought was dismissed though, and replaced by a soft smile upon your face. There was just something special about waking up in a pile of cats. It was like instant stress relief, and the feeling that you were special, because cats were such fickle, independent creatures.

Still. You had to get breakfast, and feed them. Researching what human food was safe for feline consumption last night had given you a few ideas on what they might like... haha, and you wanted to see how they'd react to pasta, but you needed to go shopping for actual cat supplies. Maybe making pasta could wait for a bit.

Slowly and quietly, you moved the sleeping kittens off to the side, before standing up and getting dressed. Once you had your black jeans, converse sneakers, grey turtleneck, and black vest on, you began making your way down the hall, ready to start the day. Most of the time, your days were spent relaxing and doing supply runs for your brother, so you were used to waking up when your body felt like it.

Hmm... It felt like it was ten in the morning. Scientifically speaking, that's supposed to be the most healthy time for adults to wake up- not bad.

As you meandered down the hallway towards the kitchen, you heard the sound of a single kitten following you. Perhaps you had woken him up when moving... whoops.

"Hello there. Lovely morning, I presume..."

A clap of thunder outside immediately refuted your statement, and you sighed quietly as your plans to go shopping went down the storm drain with the rainwater you could now hear spattering against the windows. Lovely morning, indeed.

As you stood in front of the cabinets and counters, you slowly reached into an inner pocket of your vest, pulling out a small- vial, was it called?- and uncorking it. The sweetly floral scent within made its way up to your nostrils, rosemary and honeysuckle, and you took a deep breath before putting the vial away again. This was a little quirk of yours, an idle experiment with aromatherapy that had turned into a habit bordering on addiction, and now you carried around several small vials filled with various scent combinations within the inside of your vest. 

Being blind had heightened your sense of smell, so it had seemed logical to experiment with the effects and applications of such a thing at the time.

The feline following you decided to gently bite your leg, and you paused in place, tilting your head slightly towards him in silent curiosity as he released it. Perhaps he wanted something... the way you could hear him walking back and forth ahead of you certainly indicated as such, likely that the feline wanted you to follow. You didn't really have anything else to do, so you mentally shrugged and followed along behind him.

As you mentally mapped your steps, the kitten leading you along down a familiar path, you came to realize that this kitten had brought you to the virtual reality room... huh. Well, this would be a good time to continue your game from before, as Raspberry wasn't here to attempt monopolizing your attention.

Letting out a little thoughtful hum, you stepped quietly over to the station in the center of the room, pulling on the same equipment you had the other day. The thought occurred to you that you could also shop online with this, and although it might be a little slow at first due to the information transfer rate from the website to visible energy, it was still an acceptable usage of your time.

It was a shame you couldn't play online games due to the slow transfer rate, but offline games were what you were used to in the first place, and you didn't have many friends that would be interested in playing with you anyways. (Your brother was always just a _little_ too protective over you, and often scared them off.)

Hmm... food, beds, equipment... you were gonna spoil these kittens rotten.

For a brief moment, you considered whether this would allow you to witness the RottenBerry ship between the kittens, and giggled quietly at the ridiculous thought. The lone kitten that had led you here mewled nearby, and you could almost hear the question in his tone of meow... so cute.

"N-nothing of importance, adorable one... haha..."

Done with the shopping, you moved on to loading up Undertale, smiling to yourself beneath the helmet. You'd left off after the point of dating Papyrus, and as you'd done so immediately after his battle, it was time to progress onwards to Waterfall.

Waterfall... People who'd played the regular game said that it was beautiful, but you silently considered the virtual reality version to be better, even if you hadn't seen the original yourself. The cyan glow of the water off of the midnight and navy blue rocks and crystals was quite lovely, and it looked very refreshing despite the opaque quality it possessed. It was a shame you couldn't actually feel anything from the station setup- the sensations that would accompany such water would be interesting to discover.

"Hmm... skip the hangout at Grillby's? Meow once for yes and twice for no."

The kitten, seated nearby and staring at the display screen for those not using the station itself, meowed once. Whether it was understanding of your question or just a coincidence, you didn't know for certain, but you chose to decline Sans' offer for a meal at Grillby's. You already knew the relevant information for that event anyways.

* * *

Fell was still a dangerous being, if not quite physically so. As the former Captain of the Royal Guard, one with many years of training and true experience under his belt, he felt somewhat responsible for the safety of the others. Maybe not all of them, true, but certainly his alternate selves and their sons. He was, at first glance and with slightly deeper probing, one of the most powerful and influential skeletons present, and as such he took it upon himself to make certain that their current residence was a safe one.

Not that they'd be here like... _this_ for long, but still. Assuring their collective safety for future events within this large place was one of the most important things he could do in this situation. If that included following your every move and seeing just how much he could influence you, then so be it.

He just didn't expect you to comprehend and follow his... _requests_ so easily. And yes, they were requests. He didn't have any true control over what you chose to do or what you chose not to do. 

You'd easily caught on to his indication that he wanted you to follow him, simply because he'd acted slightly like the cats he'd seen roaming about the Underground, and had even come to the conclusion that he wanted you to play more of this 'Undertale' game you possessed... although that last one might've been your own thinking. Likely. Probably. 

~~Definitely.~~

Either way, Fell was now in the perfect position to observe you without interference or distraction. With the others asleep, he'd be able to put his entire focus upon analyzing whether you were a threat to them or not, if yet by doing so he was putting himself at a slight risk. Fortunately, you seemed to be rather docile thus far, and if you ever stepped out of line, then he'd be the first to see it.

...and so, apparently, would these two new arrivals. Of course they had to follow him. Of course they did.

"yo. nice day today, isn't it?"

UnderSwap Papyrus, known as Honey by his collar tag and many members of the fandom, was the first to speak. He was not alone, however- he had also been followed, by StoryShift Chara.

"Greetings, Fell and Honey. It is foolish to go after the human alone like this; as such I have decided to keep a close watch on anyone who ends up alone with them."

Honey rolled his eyes- still couldn't quite get used to the fact that he had eyes instead of eyelights now- and turned his gaze towards you as you ran from Undyne for the second time.

"even in my universal role, you're still as kind and arrogant as ever. an interesting contradiction, to say the least."

Fell growled quietly, although it ended up sounding more like a petulant hiss due to his feline form, as he stared at the two. Great, now he'd have to watch them as well. There went his plans for a solo observation of the human.

...at least they shut up when you sneezed unexpectedly, the fur on their tails fluffing up in surprise. Fell couldn't- and also didn't care enough to really try to- hold back his laughter at the sight of such a thing, and as such, the room and a good length of the hallway was filled with loud but adorable kitten laughter. The adorable aspect wasn't even enough to make him stop, at the scandalized looks upon the furry faces of Honey and Chara.

Fortunately, you didn't seem to be too bothered by it, as you continued in your game and evaded Undyne for the last time. Hello, Hotland, filled with the overbearing heat of lava as usual.

"Well. I see I'm not the only one of us Gasters here. Hello Fell, Blindy will be arriving soon, and I believe that Sci and HipHop will be along shortly as well."

Classic Gaster, commonly called Dings by the former Captain, had arrived. True to his words, the soft footsteps of three other kittens could be heard approaching, and eventually the seven kittens began watching you play through Mettaton's quiz show.

"...fascinating."

Gaster glanced over at the young, nerdy Sans, and raised a single eyebrow in curiosity.

"What is?"

If only they had a camera. Sci's excitement as he approached the VR station was rather visible, even if he himself wasn't quite aware of it.

"what, you don't see it? the processing of energy in this device is similar to the core's. it's converting electrical energy into magic and back again. did you really think that human science alone could bypass blindness?"

...what?

HipHop was quick to approach and place a paw against the metal, quickly verbalizing his seconding of this realization.

"it's true. magic and electricity... i thought humans didn't have the ability to create magic technology, only use magic itself in an abstract way through their souls. what sort of timeline is this?"

Oh boy. This changed things. This changed things a _lot_.

The skeletons had encountered many universes, and so far what they'd discovered was that while some humans could still use magic in the Multiverse, monsters still had the monopoly on magic technology. The CORE was the most prominent example of this, along with dimensional boxes set within nigh-indestructible cell phones, and this had secured monsterkind a peaceful place in human society for post-Pacifist timelines. Did that mean that in this timeline, monsters had been freed long enough to share their knowledge on magic technology? Or had the humans in this house discovered how to create such on their own?

...you'd mentioned to them the other day that your brother had created this device for you. He'd created the device, somehow linking its electrical aspects to the magic of the soul, and you'd programmed it to function as a game system. How?

This timeline was different than any other they'd seen before.

"I say we kill the humans residing here before we do anything else. Who knows when those things will decide they don't want us around anymore, and then what? The brother does research in the basement, so there's likely a lab of some sort here, and not being wanted around means they'll either put us out in the streets or they'll kill us themselves."

Welp. Blindy was not a happy camper. Due to the deaths of his parents at the hands of humans, it was quite understandable that he wouldn't like any human at first, or possibly ever. He'd... probably need much more time to adjust than any of the others, if he even _could_ put aside his hatred for humanity, that is.

"...the male human is probably a threat, i'll agree on you with that. but this one hasn't really done anything to indicate that they're dangerous. we gotta be certain before we go around trying to kill people. remember what happened with chara over here?"

The native of StoryShift seemed displeased at the reminder- and for good reason.

"Indeed. Multiple Sanses tried to kill me, simply upon realizing that I manifest knives as my bullet pattern. And yes, while I understand that they had some issues caused by my alternate selves, their failure to ascertain my identity and role within my universe almost led to an irreversible mistake."

That had been a _fun_ day for everyone involved. One that was so fun, in fact, that nobody wished to ever repeat it.

"yeah... sorry about that. i should've _chara_ -d to be sure a little more than i did back then."

The blank stare that Chara sent HipHop's way at the name pun was all it took for the Dancetale native to start laughing, and he was soon joined by Honey and Sci when the cream-colored kitten chose to respond.

"I suppose I should be grateful that I could make _sans_ of everything going on at the time."

Fuck, the puns. Fell didn't have the patience to deal with them this early in the morning- he got enough of them from River on a daily basis. He needed to divert this conversation elsewhere before they got too... non _sans_ ical.

Stars dammit.

Alas, before anything could be done, the intercom system installed in the house went off, broadcasting the male human's voice for all to hear. He was only talking to you, of course- as if he would speak to the cats he would rather you take care of.

"Ah, Synner dear, could you come down here for a few minutes? I require your assistance with some of... ugh, papers disgust me. It's the era of technology, get with the times, society!"

After a short pause, wherein the skelekits watched you stand frozen before the VR machine, you pressed the intercom's reply button and made your soft response.

"A-alright brother, I'll be right down..."

The apprehension was quite visible on your face as you saved the game and powered down the station, leaving the kittens to wonder what exactly was going on in this house. With the existence of magic technology here, and the odd relationship between you and your brother, things were clearly far more than they seemed to be.


	5. Wiggity Whack Wassup, Brosephs!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wild Fresh has appeared! And he's... what?

"Whoa dudes, you're all little furballs! Radical!"

What.

You'd barely been gone for twenty minutes, during which time the other skelekits had congregated in the main hallway, and suddenly Fresh appears out of nowhere in his usual skeletal body.

What the actual flipping fuck.

"Fresh. Did you have anything to do with our current forms?"

Ink was suspicious of the neon-clothed skeleton, and for good reason. Fresh seemed to be the only 'normal' skeleton they'd seen in this universe thus far, and with him being the only notable one absent during their... physical alterations, it was a logical step to take in asking of his involvement.

"Pssh, me? Nah, my feline broseph, I just came lookin' for ya when I noticed the mansion was emptier than a rain barrel in the desert. This isn't what I expected, but it's super fresh, yo! I like the improvements!"

...his glasses had changed to the words 'ya bro' before he answered. Was he telling the truth or lying? Shit, did he benefit from this in any way?

"Yes, yes, I'm certain our furry predicament is very entertaining. Could you at least assist us in returning to our former glory? I trust that human about as far as I can throw them in this form..."

Blindy still seemed displeased by the situation they'd found themselves in, and the occasional twitching of his stump-tail was a definite sign of this. His body language basically screamed displeasure... poor dude. Fresh almost felt guilty about his answer.

Nah, that was a lie. Fresh was incapable of feeling guilt, haha!

"My most sincere apologies broseph, but no can do! You guys got some sicknasty magic vibes around you that I can't even touch! My parasitic instincts are tellin' me that possessin' ya is the most I could do, and I'm sure you weird peeps would refuse such a fine offer."

There was an almost unanimous refusal of his offer, as he'd predicted, and the neon-clad skeleton shrugged.

"Welp, sorry, guess I can't help ya."

Tossing forth a skateboard, the radtastic skeledude hopped on and casually made his way down the hallway, peering into rooms as he passed them by. The digs here seemed pretty sweet, and with those boxes of ordered cat supplies that Fresh had so generously brought into the manor when he arrived, things here were set up nicely for his acquaintances/roommates. That is, if they accepted their feline fate, which was rather doubtful.

"WELL, FRESH, SINCE YOU CAN'T HELP US WITH OUR BODIES, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT UNIVERSE WE'RE IN SO WE CAN POSSIBLY CONVINCE OUR ALTERNATE SELVES TO HELP?"

That... was a surprisingly good idea. Papyrus had hit on an interesting nail on the head, right there. It made it far more amusing for Fresh to shake his skull in mock sympathy, still smiling as he made his response.

"No can do, brah. Haven't seen a universe like this before. Monsters are equal in numbers to humans, and none of them are familiar. Could be a radical type of Humantale universe, but I also haven't seen any familiar humans, if ya catch my drift."

...nobody familiar whatsoever? No Toriel, no Undyne, no Alphys; truly _nobody_? Everything here was just plain weird, and the skelekits did not like it.

"well, uh, do you know how the magic here works?"

HipHop raised a good point. Magic in his own universe worked differently, basing itself within a physical expression of the soul known as dancing, so it was a very reasonable question to ask. And hey, luck of luck, the rated PG skeleton had an answer at last!

"Yep! Ya know those radtastic superhero comics ya see in human stores, like The Inscrutable Machine, or Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation? Seems like magic here is categorized like their powers. Like blue magic, the type where you're messin' with the soul's gravity- that's directly categorized as gravity manipulation, and it applies to objects as well. Just moving objects around with plain ol' willpower is categorized as telekinesis, creating magic weapons like spears or tridents or bones is considered summoning, and setting stuff on fire is called pyrokinesis. This universe is super whack, and I'm just lovin' the variety!"

It seems like somebody was having a field day while the kittens were stuck inside the house...

Wait. Fresh had been running around this universe as long as they had, from what it sounded like. Was he stuck there with them? Looks like it was up to Asriel to ask the question everyone was thinking of!

"UH, MISTER FRESH, ARE YOU ABLE TO LEAVE THIS UNIVERSE?"

Fresh aimed some finger guns over at the white-furred kitten in the rainbow bandana, his grin widening as he disappeared in a cloud of rainbow smoke...

........

..................

............

...and promptly reappeared back where he'd been standing moments before, skateboard and all.

His grin faded slightly, almost imperceptibly, as he disappeared in another cloud of rainbow smoke and reappeared in the same location. Finally, after a third try, he holstered his finger guns into his pockets and shrugged.

"Seems not right now, lil' broseph. Feels like it's related to you guys bein' the way you are, from what I'm getting outta my magic. You're not able to use your own magic right now, yeah? Welp, that excess is weighing down the area like a psychedelic Jupiter floating right outside these digs. I'd prolly be able to leave once I got outta range of you radical magic bombs."

Well, his ignorance of the situation seemed to clear him of suspicion as to who could've done this to them... but if it wasn't Fresh, then who was it? Physical transformation of this sort _could've_ been performed by his weird 90's magic, but who else amongst the Sanses and Papyruses and Gasters had that sort of magic? What were the basic rules of the magic keeping them like this in the first place- was it from this universe, or another?

Stars dammit, they had too many questions and far too few answers. Nothing was going to get solved like _this_ , not deliberately. Only sheer luck would be of any use, and the Creators knew that _this bunch_ didn't have the best luck in the Multiverse.

What could they possibly ask that would have an answer at this point in time? None of the Humans or monsters were familiar to Fresh, and he'd seen just as many universes as they had... but, maybe, just maybe he could go digging a little deeper? It depended solely upon whether he wanted to play along or not... but it was worth a shot to ask; at least, this is what Orion thought.

"fresh, do you think you could try and look up our alternate selves? it's possible that this universe exists without us, true, but most of those universes are without monsters entirely. monsters exist here, so we should also exist here in some way. can you do a little searching for us?"

The neon-clad skeleton seemed thoughtful for a moment, as he straightened up out of his usual slouch and to his full height. There was a new, silent appreciation for how large he was in comparison to other Sanses, even at regular height, as the skelekits waited for his answer. He ended up shrugging, the spinner on his hat twirling about slowly as he spoke.

"Sure breh, I've got nothing better to do right now. Buuuuut I noticed you furballs have a couple humans takin' care of ya. Should I wait until they're otherwise occupied before returning and serving up the radical info?"

...surprisingly considerate. Normally he just did what he wanted, but now he was asking? How very, very interesting.

"Oh, I'm fine with the blind human knowing that you're here with us, but with the interests of others to keep in mind, it would probably be best if you kept your appearances limited to the times you mentioned!"

River made the final decision for the others, a wide smile on his furry face as he regarded his fellow kittens. It certainly seemed as though he was as enthusiastic as ever, despite the weirdness of the situation he'd found himself in.

"AND RETURN OFTEN PLEASE, I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!"

Aww. The Blueberry cared about the parasitic abomination. How sweet!

Fresh was quick to head for the nearest window and climb outside with surprising grace, escaping the heartfelt feelings that he didn't understand. It seemed as though he ignored the comment, but upon closing the window with his magic, he hesitated. He hesitated, and held up finger guns in acknowledgement, before properly vanishing in his cloud of rainbow smoke for the last time.

When the smoke cleared, he was no longer there. The teleport had been a success- and just in time. The door at the end of the hall was opening, and the skelekits could see you beginning to pass through. However, there was one final question left behind by Fresh's absence, one which would likely concern your future sense of balance... where had he stored the boxes of cat supplies?


	6. We Need a Plan.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You return, and the skelekits finally decide on what to do.

The door closed behind you, and you moved forward slowly, feet dragging a little bit beneath you. To the kittens waiting for you, this was a new and rather concerning development, but you were used to it. It was just slight disorientation from the usual weekly blood draw, with a few additional tests.

Your brother had required your assistance in some new research of his. He was almost always down in the basement, running tests and creating new things, seeing how far things could be pushed before they _broke_... ahem. He needed your assistance, and you had given it to him.

Continuing on your way to the kitchen, you acquired a spoon, opened up the freezer, and took out some ice cream- the sugar would do you well for recovery, and it would sooth the burning sensation of the cut upon your bandaged palm as you held it. Around you came the rustling of tiny clothes on tiny kittens, and you carefully moved around them to avoid stepping on anyone's tail, listening to the low mewls and warbles of them having conversation amongst themselves.

That was something interesting you'd noticed- they conversed quite actively between each other. It made you wonder what level of intelligence they truly had, and sometimes you thought you could even understand them. Of course, the odds of kittens actually discussing the magical mechanics of virtual reality were absurdly low, so it was probably just your bored imagination at work again. Still, it'd be pretty neat to know what they were saying...

Eh. You'd just have to keep trying to decipher their noises by being around them, the way you were often. Picking up languages was ridiculously easy for you due to some energy thing about your soul- maybe you could pick up the languages of species other than humans, and these kittens could be the first test. That'd be rather interesting.

Startled by the abrupt weight of a pernicious kitten on your shoulder, you lost your balance, but caught yourself with your hip on the counter.

"Razz, perhaps a little warning next time... I know you like to perch on my shoulder and look down upon the others, b-but I'm easily put off balance after a blood drawing..."

He nipped your ear, the bratty kitten did. The flat look you gave him was nothing less than amusing, if the quiet mewls nearby indicated anything.

"Sassy tonight, aren't we...?"

The response given to you was a tail flicked across your nose, and you promptly covered your face as you sneezed. This caused the kitten to leap off of your shoulder to places unknown- perhaps disgusted by your human bodily functions, or more likely, just startled- and you murmured a quiet apology before closing the tub of ice cream and returning it to the freezer. The used spoon went in the sink, and you tried to think of something to do... but you only wanted to sleep.

"..."

Closing your eyes- you were blind, it didn't really matter whether you had them open or not- you made your way out of the kitchen and back into the hallway, heeding the siren's call of sleep coming from your bedroom. Behind you, a few noises sounded as the kittens followed you... why _did_ they follow you so closely? That wasn't normal behavior for cats, unless you were developing some sort of animal magnetism, in which case you really needed to find the cause. Things like this didn't happen to you without something directly causing them, and usually, those causes were easy to pinpoint.

There was something special about you, according to your brother, and you had to agree with him. It wasn't that hard to notice that metal needles could no longer break your skin after so many injections- Seint had called it an adaptation ability. Of course, that particular hindrance towards his research been taken care of, so you could continue assisting him with his research.

He really did care about you, in his own odd way.

Absentmindedly fiddling with the bandage around your left hand, the rough texture of the cloth wrappings between your fingertips slowly focused your senses again, and you realized that you were already standing in front of your bedroom door. The kittens around you were silent, other than quiet breathing and the occasional movements, and you got the vague feeling that they were waiting for you to do something.

Maybe open the door? You should do that anyways, if you wanted to sleep, and indeed you did.

Turning the knob and pushing open the door, you entered and simply continued forth towards your bed, not bothering to close the door behind you. An unexpected box in your way caused you to trip, and with a surprised squeak, down you went. Fortunately, another box cushioned your fall, and your face made an acquaintance with a sturdy plastic bag of some sort... one that smelled like cat food.

Had your brother done this? The things you'd ordered for the cats had been ordered with one-day shipping, and your last name gave you quite the priority thanks to your brother's work, so that explained why it was on the property so quickly. But in your room?

...you decided not to question it. Nor would you question the strangely strong scent of fresh febreeze in the air, because your room had probably smelled bad beforehand anyways.

Feeling over the boxes for the labels, you found them to be as smooth as paper usually was, and sighed quietly. It looked like you'd have to open them up and sort through the contents yourself, thanks to somebody slapping on a regular label instead of one in Braille like you'd requested. Sleep would just have to wait.

* * *

When you'd came through the door, all the skelekits had noticed something different about you. Exhaustion, skin paler than it should be, movements sluggish and reaction time slowed down... You looked like you'd ran a marathon. Then, Blueberry noticed something that the others had overlooked.

"...WHY IS THERE A BANDAGE ON THEIR HAND?"

It was a white cloth bandage, one of the stretchy kinds that wrapped around an injury to hold a substantial amount of gauze and other treatments to the wound. As unfamiliar as they were with human medicine techniques, the sight and smell of blood faintly seeping through the sterile bandage was... _concerning_ , if only because you were currently a caretaker of sorts to them.

"The wound isn't self-inflicted, from what I can tell. If it were, it would more than likely be on the wrist, not the palm. It is likely that they accidentally injured themselves whilst assisting their brother."

What Chara pointed out brought relief to more than one kitten present- most of the pessimistic ones, in fact- and the group collectively relaxed somewhat. However, Caramel had an objection to this. A bandage wrapped like that wasn't the kind of bandage wrap that someone who could see just fine would do...

"i dunno about that. the wrapping looks like they did it themself- neat enough for them to have some experience, but sloppy in the sense that they learned to wrap it incorrectly due to their blindness. if they got hurt by accident, wouldn't they have asked for help from their bro?"

As they followed you to the kitchen, this good point from the FellSwap Papyrus brought a thoughtful silence, and it was after several moments of this that Raspberry decided to ACT. Humans were weaker when they were injured and pale, something about their blood loss causing their systems to have insufficient fuel for prolonged activity. He didn't know the specifics, but it seemed to be something similar to monsters having low magic reserves... it would be wise to establish your level of weakness during this time. Thus, without any further hesitation, the edgy yet hyperactive kitten hopped up onto your shoulder, and off to the side you went.

Wow. If all humans were this weak with blood loss, he'd have to add it to the handbook for Royal Guards in his own universe. Making them weaker with a few well-aimed shots would increase capture efficiency by a substantial amount.

"razz, ya think ya could've picked a better time for this?"

Red sounded displeased. How amusing.

"WHAT, ARE YOU STARTING TO CARE ABOUT THE HUMAN'S WELL-BEING? MORON, ONCE WE HAVE OUR MAGIC AND NORMAL BODIES BACK, WE'RE GOING TO BE BACK IN THE MULTIVERSE MANSION WITHOUT ANY HESITATION."

Off to the side, Sci muttered something about wanting to study the magical mechanics of the virtual reality machine, and Fell was quick to chastise his spoiled alternate's son.

"Have you learned nothing as the Captain of the Royal Guard? A warrior is sharp not only in strength, but intelligence as well. This is a universe unknown to us, one that already has red flags going up in it. Monsters being equal in number to humans? Humans in possession of magic technology, apparently able to develop it themselves? Obviously the beings of this universe are close to accessing the Void, if they haven't already done so, and that places the Multiverse itself at risk."

...Raspberry hopped down from your shoulder when you sneezed, and sauntered off to peer down the hallway in both directions.

"FINE THEN, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL BE VISITING THIS PLACE EVERY NOW AND THEN, ESPECIALLY ONCE WE ENCOUNTER OUR ALTERNATE SELVES. WE NEED TO LOCATE THEM IN ORDER TO HOME ANYWAYS- NONE OF US HAVE THE MACHINE'S BLUEPRINTS PERFECTLY MEMORIZED, NOR THE CAPABILITY TO BUILD IT OURSELVES DUE TO SHEER LACK OF MATERIALS."

As you left the room at a slower pace than usual, the conversing kittens made their way after you, more out of habit than active thinking. This topic of discussion had them focused, and almost everyone had something to say about it.

"I WONDER WHAT OUR ALTERNATES WILL BE LIKE! DO YOU THINK THEY'LL WANT TO MOVE IN WITH US?"

...that was something they hadn't quite considered yet. Good call there, Pluto, good question... It seemed as though Flowey was somewhat inspired by it.

"If this universe really has reached the point where it's fucking around with the Void, of _course_ they'll be interested. The fact that the Multiverse is damaged enough already will probably have them curious as to what's still keeping it all together, and if they're not, we could always _persuade_ them to be so."

With a displeased glare sent the flower's way, Sans was quick to shut this idea down, at least in the way the StoryShift Gaster had meant it.

"look, for all we know, we might not even have alternates in this universe. fresh hadn't seen any familiar monsters whatsoever, and with the near-equal populations of the two species, we might not even be in the right time period. trying to 'persuade' them is gonna be difficult if they don't even exist."

Flowey flicked his tail and sneered at the Classic, opening his whiskered maw to spew forth a slew of insults, but was fortunately cut off by Geno.

"before we can even do anything, we need to find them. fresh is out there doing stuff for us on that matter, but we've gotta find a way back into our old bodies before we can even do anything to help. getting our magic and our bodies back should be our first priority, and then we can decide what to do next."

As the kittens considered this plan of action, they fell silent, and a silent agreement was reached. Geno's plan was concise, what they needed at this chaotic time- honestly, it was a wonder nobody had broken down yet- and it was a reasonable plan at that. Logical, thought out...

Until circumstances changed, or they thought of a better idea, this was as good a plan as any. 

First Priority: Restoration. 

Second Priority: Universe Exploration.

Anything further would simply be subject to future development.


	7. Testing, Testing, One-Two-Three!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Testing the intelligence of beings you don't understand is fun. Starting to understand them is even better.

After a while of sorting through the cat supplies, your energy had returned, and you no longer felt like sleeping. With the return of this energy, you perked up, increasing your speed in organizing the various supplies to your liking. A cat tree was set up, some tunnels for them to crawl around in, a few scratching posts, and of course, litter boxes.

...due to the multiple hisses you heard nearby at the final objects in particular, you got the feeling that these cats were going to be difficult about using them, and sighed quietly before moving on to bring the cat food and the pet food bowls into your kitchen area. From what you could recall, there had been... what... 36 kittens around? Just in case you were forgetting any, you set up a few extra bowls, and scooped an equal amount of cat food into each.

That done, you returned to your room, and flopped backwards onto the bed, your breath releasing itself in an audible gust of air...

Now what?

Not needing to work- rather, being considered unable to- you often encountered different problems than most people did. One large problem was boredom, and sure you could go play video games, but there were only so many games to play. The ones you had, you'd played through so many times that the storylines weren't interesting anymore, and they didn't pose any challenge. The games you didn't have, there weren't copies compatible with virtual reality yet, and thus you couldn't play them unless you converted them yourself... and it was difficult to find games interesting enough to convert.

Reading was out of the question for now, unfortunately. Your fingertips hurt after a while of reading Braille, and after a few hours of testing with your brother, they tended to be more sensitive than usual. Also, audiobooks didn't grasp your attention as well as truly reading did... You probably wouldn't be able to read any books until tomorrow, when your fingertips weren't as sensitive.

The next option to come to mind was music- either listening or playing it. When you played an instrument, you either played by ear or just made up little melodies, as there wasn't exactly an easy way for blind people to teach themselves that you knew of- some future society, you joked to yourself. Listening to music on the other hand, was much easier, and if you weren't feeling too anxious or self-conscious, you could probably work yourself up to sing along.

...buuuuut, you _did_ have that pacifist run you were in the process of doing, ignoring your previous thoughts on games. Undertale was based off of a true story- the monsters coming up to the Surface, and if you went Pacifist, continuing on to get rights and change the world in the sequel game- told by the first Human Ambassador of Monsters themself since the Barrier broke so long ago. There was even a DLC for the sequel that showcased the times before the Ambassador fell, starting from just before the war began, continuing with the deaths of the royal children, and ending with the six previous fallen humans.

Giving new possibilities to such a historic event in the History of Humans and Monsters, showcasing how things could've gone so utterly wrong; Undertale overall was a fascinating game. 

Of course, the fact that a few of the boss monsters of the time had helped program the game before passing made it all the more interesting. The one who gave the most contribution was so focused on getting every detail just right; it was truly admirable.

_"-LO?"_

You twitched slightly with surprise when a kitten broke your train of thought with their body, leaping onto your stomach and meowing at you quite loudly. It took a second to catch up to the present, but when you did, a double-take was performed quite swiftly... it'd almost sounded like the feline was trying to say hello-

"Mrow?"

Eh... It must've just been wishful thinking.

Still, which kitten was this? You reached forth to check the tag on his collar- Blueberry- and hummed thoughtfully before removing him from your stomach and sitting up.

"Don't worry, I just space out sometimes... you could say that my thought process is _outta this world_..."

The kitten removed himself from your reach with a displeased hiss, and though you didn't know whether the hiss was for the pun or your handling of him, it was still amusing.

"Hey, hey, Blueberry... what do you give a space rock that wants to work out?"

You didn't get an answer, and with an amused grin, you stood up and made your way to the door.

"A-steroid."

The response to your joke was another displeased hiss, and you giggled quietly to yourself as you made your way back to the game room. The virtual reality station was undisturbed from your previous usage, and it was a quick matter for you to have it up and running. There was, of course, another matter to attend to.

Your audience, the intelligent kittens. 

If there was a way to test their intelligence, you'd need to find it or create it yourself. Your brother was by far the better at this sort of problem solving, and his color only supported this conclusion, but you couldn't go to him with this matter just yet... for the safety of the kittens themselves. He'd be thrilled, certainly, and every bit of research done wouldn't be wasted, but he had a way of getting too invested in the question of whether he _could_ instead of whether he _should_... 

~~You fiddled with the bandage on your left hand.~~

It'd be best if you solved this conundrum on your own. Thus, without further delay, you began to set up the game room for multiple participants.

Over the years, this room had been given many uses. One of its original uses was an exercise room, one with platforms and poles that pushed out from the walls and floor and ceiling, providing obstacles for heavier levels of exercise. When the room had been converted to be a game room, featuring the VR station in the middle, those obstacle functions hadn't been removed. In fact, they were even still actively used- as a way to more fully immerse oneself in the virtual reality world. With the platforms and poles in use, the room essentially _became_ the VR environment, the visual displays on the screens and in the helmets showing these real-life obstacles as in-game environmental aspects.

Really, you were quite fascinated by how magic made technology so flexible, and had the privilege of discovering many benefits and risks associated with the combination.

But, enough getting off topic. You had some intelligence tests to run, and by doing so in a game these kittens were unfamiliar with, you would likely be able to acquire the genuine results of the unaware.

Pulling on the equipment and pressing a few buttons on the nearby wallscreen, the door automatically closed firm, the padded interior blending in with the rest of the walls. You heard a few startled mewls from the kittens- startled? That was intelligence, ordinary kittens wouldn't be frightened by a door closing so smoothly and quietly- and with a few more buttons pressed, the environment controls were safely locked. The door wouldn't be opening until you were done with the game, and hopefully, you'd finally have proof that these kittens were actually intelligent and able to speak a true language.

With a soft smile, you selected the game you wished to play, and found yourself in Waterfall.

* * *

The skelekits were feeling a mixture of emotions. There was primarily surprise and excitement amongst the optimistic ones, eagerness to proceed and discover what else this room could do, but of course there were several others who felt differently.

"what the flippin' fuck is that bitch doing, what the fuck!?"

Red was not a happy skelekit. He knew suspicious bullshit when he saw it, and locking them all in a room together was the fucking epitome of suspicious. The only thing that could've made this _more_ suspicious was if you'd left the room beforehand, but apparently you were sticking around.

Oh wait... if you were still around, that meant he could claw your face off if you tried to harm any of them. He would definitely be doing that- oh and look, it seemed Blindy was on the same page as he was.

"Rest assured, if this human filth touches a single hair upon your furry coats, they will regret it. I do not require sight to teach them how to behave themself."

As the most suspicious of skelekits took protective stances around the others- _especially_ when the walls started moving, _holy fuck_ \- those who believed that the human meant no harm moved forth anyways, dodging around their protective alternates.

"THE HUMAN MEANS US NO HARM, CAN'T YOU TELL? WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CHECK THEM WITH OUR MAGIC, BUT WE CAN STILL FEEL THEIR AURA AND INTENT THE WAY HUMANS DO! WORRY NOT!"

...Papyrus was right, in a way. Humans of most universes didn't have active magic, so they felt each other's auras in a more passive sense often referred to as intuition, the sense that gave them the feeling that someone was watching them. Harmful intent was focused, sharp, like the tip of a pencil as it scratched and stabbed through a piece of paper. Likewise, helpful intent was like an eraser or tape, nullifying the markings and sealing the punctures.

Your intent was somewhere in the middle. Not really intending anything helpful or harmful, it was just sort of... _there_. Dispersed throughout your aura, your intent regarding the skelekits was neutral, but as it was centered around the area of your soul, it was self-serving. Whatever you were planning was intended to benefit you, and any happenstance benefits or risks to the kits were mostly accidental.

Tch... humans were so selfish.

"...they might not be thinking about us at all, actually."

When several heads rapidly turned to face Tone, he twitched slightly, casting his own blind gaze away from them as he continued at a slightly quieter volume.

"just, think about it... they're playing a game... of course they're focusing on themself right now... they want to win, don't they? we're... probably just being paranoid..."

As a wall platform pushed out beside the group of skelekits, they moved out of the way, trying to keep a safe distance from both you and the walls. This placed them in a perfect view of the screen, and as you began to move around the room with more speed, more than one kit decided to see what you were doing.

Heh. You were running from Undyne, having gotten past the welcome sign, and were approaching the sentry station. The sentry station where Sans was utterly asleep in.

"l̢̧͞a̵͟͡zya̴͜͢ss͢.̛"

Oh look, Error finally decided to speak up from his place across the room. He had been avoiding the others, both as one of the louder voices had told him to and due to his... haphephobic tendencies, but he'd finally gotten curious about what was so special about this room. Indulging the voice was easy when what it wanted was something he was going to do anyways, but he liked to deny them occasionally- that was why he was _inside_ the room, instead of exploring the mansion like the loud voice had wanted.

Honestly, while he didn't recognize this universe yet, he figured the voices would eventually tell him what it was. Besides, due to whatever the fuck was blocking his magic and keeping his body like this, it wasn't like he could get to destroying anything, so why bother?

"Oh hey Error, I completely forgot you were here!"

Ah yes, the ever-tactful Ink. Stupid glitch just loved fucking around with him, it was like some sort of child angst story where the little girls are told by their mamas that the boys are just being mean because they like them, and Ink was the boy and Error was the girl-

"f̕u̧c̛̕k̵̴̕ o̴̕̕f̕͟f͢,̵" he said, but continued on to mutter, _"i͡ ̶͝d̷o̸̸͢n̷͘'̶͠t̡͠ ̸hav̧͜e̵ ̷̸t҉o ͠li̢͡s̕͜ten ̛҉͡to̕ ͘y̸o̸͞u̸r ̶̕ş҉h̷i̸p͏̷͜p͞͏i̶n̸͠g̵͢͞ ̷̕b͠u̧l̵̷͡l̵̨s͏̶h̶i̵t.̵"_

Alas, his hearing of the voices was not selective. Error would always have to listen to their shipping bullshit, wherever they commented upon it, and he was quite often shipped with the Protector. He even had _kids_ running around the Multiverse thanks to these lunatics. 

Honestly, he thought it was stupid, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it. The Multiverse was infinite, after all. It would take him forever to destroy all the timelines with alternate versions of himself, but whatever, he literally had forever.

"ERROR, PLEASE MIND YOUR LANGUAGE! I KNOW YOU DON'T CARE FOR BEING GOOD OUR WAY, BUT YOU CAN STILL TRY!"

...Stupid Blueberry.

"I'M AFRAID HE WON'T LISTEN, BLUE. HALF OF US HERE HAVE ZERO QUALMS WITH VULGARITY, AND FOR ONCE, I'M NOT ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE UNDERLUST BROTHERS."

Whoa. Shade. SHADE. Sniper was throwing shade with brutal accuracy. As he hopped up onto an extended platform nearby for a higher point of view, Mafioso snickered quietly, appreciating his bro's wit.

"you know you love us... _literally_."

Lust was given unamused glances all around, and with a quiet snicker, he padded over to you and rubbed up against your legs when you stopped to glance down at him through the helmet.

"you love me, eh human? tell them i'm the sexiest one here. tell 'em."

The others watched as you crouched down and scratched behind his ears with critical accuracy, the game seeming to pause in the background.

"I'm glad I decided to have you kits in here while I played... Now I can see your gorgeous selves, and your outfits. They are, quite honestly, more adorable than I imagined."

Blinking up at you, Lust hopped onto one of your legs, and you quickly sat down to avoid losing balance.

"see guys, they totally dig me."

Ink sauntered up next, a smirk upon his feline face as he poked Lust's shoulder to knock _him_ off balance.

"Hey, they said that all of us looked good, not only you. Although I do wonder how they can see us now."

If one of the kits glanced up at just the right moment, they would've seen a brilliant smile appear upon your face for just a second before returning to its usual softness. As it so happened, Classic Sans saw this, but didn't make any comment upon it... he just continued to watch you, closely, without any intention of blinking.

"Although if I'm honest, I appreciate Lust's look a bit more than yours, Ink. That sleeveless hoodie of his is essentially a vest, and vests are basically a staple of my own outfits. Plus the light blue goes quite nicely with that shade of plum... This room is pretty much the only place I can see again, so I can only admire your physical beauty in here. Good thing there's more than one form of beauty, mmm?"

Gently maneuvering the two kits from your lap, you stood up again and the game resumed, leaving the skelekits to continue their conversations. Continue they did, in fact, as they watched you dance to Mettaton's battle in the CORE.

"see? i'm totally the hottest one here. _synners_ everywhere agree."

As the skelekits glanced to each other in challenge, an unspoken agreement was reached, and the punsters of the group were quick to get going.

"welp, that statement isn't _sans_ truth. but _lust_ to be certain, we should ask 'em that question directly."

Classic jumped on the wagon like a mouse to cheese, a cheeky smirk upon his face as the Papyruses around them began to display their first signs of annoyance. Honey, of course, was an exception to the Papyrus' Dislike Of Puns™.

"name puns, eh? i _ink_ we might hafta try a bit harder than that."

The kit with the canvas scarf smirked from where he stood, passing the verbal ball along.

"Oh no you don't, you've made a grave _error_ bringing me into this pun battle."

Everyone turned to face Error, and he rolled his eyes, his tail flicking self-importantly as he joined in.

"wḩ̵͞a̧͝͠t'̴ŗ͜e̛͡͝ ̶̕t҉͢h͢ose̷̷͡ ̶̴l̷҉ǫ̕o̴k̸͢҉s͟͜ f̕or̶?̡͜ yo̴̡u͜'̨r͘͢e a͢c̨̢͞t̛͢͜i̴͢͞n̶̸͞g̨͟͞ ̧̢l̸į͠k̨͜e̛͝ ̷͡i͞ ̶ _c̢͜͏h͝͠a̶̴͞r̸a_ ͜-̸t ̷͢a͠l͏l͘.̸͢͝"

CRITICAL HIT! The StoryShift human-kit sniffed quietly, a smirk upon their whiskered face as they jumped up onto the same platform as Sniper.

"I believe Ink should a- _tone_ for this mistake of his."

Even the shyest of Sanses were unable to resist a good pun battle.

"...maybe we should _sci_ what the human has to say about it... then we _tan-go_ get some lunch..."

With a huff of mock-outrage, the Gaster of Dancetale shook his head at one of his nicknames being used, quickly using the other in a pun of his own.

"And perhaps you can _waltz_ on out of here to find some food yourself!"

Now Sci was up to bat, and all he could do was hit a home run.

"Hey now, no need to be seeing _red_!"

FATALITY.

As the kittens mewled and snickered amongst themselves, you defeated Mettaton and moved towards the New Home area, a smile on your face. It seemed that your experiment about exposure had been a success... and now you could understand them. The only thing left to decide was whether you wanted to let them know sooner or later.


	8. The Jig is Up! / I Saw it Too...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn a bit more about the world we're in.

_"And now, for our This Day In History segment! Beatrice, will you do the honors?"_

You were sitting down in one of the spare rooms, a jigsaw puzzle before you and a TV going in the background. You'd decided to listen to the news this morning, curious as to whether they'd mention the same thing again this year as they had in practically every year past- lo and behold, they did.

_"Today is the day that Sans Serif Gaster and his colleague, Alphys Drakiel Flamel, died in their efforts to bring peace and advancement to Humanity and Monsterkind in the year 235X. An anti-monster terrorist organization attacked the college campus they had been teaching and working tirelessly at, killing them and approximately 347 bystanders as the science building was levelled. The college was subsequently shut down, and has remained closed ever since."_

The skelekits froze in their meandering, staring at the screen. Their sudden stillness was noted, but didn't distract you from your unseen jigsaw puzzle, as the report continued.

_"Now, nearly two hundred years later, the college campus is opening once more. The newly christened Gaster-Flamel Institute will focus primarily around the study of magic technology, medicine, and theoretical physics in honor of these two Fallen scientists; May they live on forever in the Beyond. Now, back to you Janet-"_

With a quiet hum, you felt the edges of a puzzle piece, and carefully placed it along the border. The conversation of the skelekits was interesting to listen to- and provided some insight as to their origins, if they really were Sanses and Papyruses and Gasters of different fandom-created universes.

"wait, so we _are_ in an alternate universe. ink, what universe has me and alphys dying like this post-pacifist?"

They seemed to know each other quite well. Ink was the one known for travelling the Multiverse, as was Error... it didn't seem like Fresh was around, though.

"Uh... too many? The Multiverse is infinite, so, there are literally infinite timelines where a Sans and an Alphys die in a college campus."

Nice to have that theory confirmed. Someone tell the science side of the universe- oh wait.

"can you figure out what timeline this is then? even just what universe?"

Assuming that this was another universe to them, it would likely be named...

"Not without more information! It's going to be a lot more difficult to find any information about them now that they're dead, and things keep changing so rapidly!"

...EvolutionTale. The Sans of this universe had created the game with Frisk, and with a third of these kittens being alternate versions of him, it's very possible he knew about that scientist working on a dimensional theory at the time. Didn't they even work together at one point? You weren't certain- history was mostly just a hobby for you, you were no expert.

"DON'T WORRY, THE REPORT DIDN'T SAY EVERYONE WAS DEAD! ONLY MY ALTERNATE BROTHER AND THE ALTERNATE ALPHYS. I SHOULD STILL BE ALIVE, RIGHT? AND MY LAST NAME IS REMEMBERED, SO MAYBE THE GASTER OF THIS UNIVERSE IS ALIVE AS WELL!"

Now you only had to decide whether or not you wanted to intervene and reveal that you knew what they were saying... Or, you could make it seem as though you were speaking your thoughts, and keep cover that way... Or both? Eventually?

Keeping secrets was something you were good at, but not something you particularly liked to do when they only involved yourself.

"heh, good thinking bro. but how do we get the human here to take us anywhere? they probably dunno typical cat behavior, so they wouldn't know we were trying to get them to take us somewhere. and they're... well... they're working on a jigsaw puzzle that they can't see. i dunno what that says about their intelligence."

...Rude, but fair. It was one of those jigsaw puzzles with only blank pieces, enchanted to show an image upon completion. The image was different every time, and focused upon the near future of the one who completed the puzzle. You couldn't see it unless you activated your magic sight, but that didn't really matter- you were getting distracted.

"We shall likely have to find this information ourselves. Have any of you noticed computers around, or phones, or any devices linked to the Surface internet?"

Logical thinking, if inaccurate. You wanted to reveal that you knew what they were saying, but instead, you placed down another piece of the puzzle. It was only half completed.

.......

....................

.............

Fuck it, waiting would just cause more damage and make them slower to trust you.

"Papyrus went missing, after that event. It's unknown whether he's still alive or not... and Undyne's whereabouts are also unknown. Some people theorize that they committed suicide together, but that's not like either of them."

The skelekits shared a skeptical glance, and Epic's open eye widened slightly.

"Bruh, are you guys hearing what I'm listenin' to? Does this human understand us?"

He was a quick one. It made sense, of course- what with him being a scientist in his own universe.

"Immortal. My brother and I are of the Immortal species, neither Human nor Monster. And yes, I understand you now. It took a few days of exposure to decipher what you were saying, as I have never particularly been interested in understanding the language of felines until now."

Okay, whoa, they were freaking out now. You, you fucking _understood_ them now? And you weren't a Human? What surprise did they focus on first!?

"what tha fuck!?"

Well said, Red. Well said.

"My apologies for dropping this metaphorical bombshell on you, but it would've been a little too deceitful for my tastes to go about pretending that I couldn't understand you. Not to mention, it's rude to listen to other people's conversations... without contributing something, that is."

Epic decided to meander up to your side, keeping his cool, and looked you over with both eyes open...

"Totally cool, bruh! A surprise trickshot straight to our nonexistent hearts. But how does your magic let you understand other languages?"

You seemed pretty chill to him. He couldn't see your stats, what with his current lack of magic, but hey- might as well test the waters!

"Well, according to the studies of various Monsters both Underground and on the Surface, my silver magic is of the reflection type. It seems to manifest in a way of reflecting what has happened to me- the adaptations I possess, including the ability to understand you. I also have a sort of arcane sight that the virtual reality station links up with, but the sight alone is an adaptation my magic gave me when I went blind."

Well, at least the kittens seemed to be intelligent enough... which raised the question of whether or not they were who their collars said they were.

"Would you mind if I showed you? I wish to scan your souls- if you are who your collars say you are, then there may be some clues as to why you are infantile felines instead of skeletons like most of you should be."

Blindy, growling slightly with displeasure and distrust, firmly bit your hand. You didn't react, other than to take this as a silent 'no' to your inquiry- you'd already adapted to damage from the physical substances that made up kitten's claws and teeth thanks to Razz.

"ALTERNATE FATHER, THERE ARE MORE POLITE WAYS TO SAY NO... BUT HU- UM, IMMORTAL! YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO CHECK MY SOUL!"

The violent Gaster, releasing your hand, whipped his furry head around towards the Classic Papyrus and began to berate him. It seemed that he was worried about the other... that made sense. At least you got a few other volunteers despite it.

"eh, if ya hafta check my bro, i'd rather you check me too instead of someone else."

Blindy went to turn his chastising to the Classic Sans, but was cut off before he could even begin by Lust.

"hit me up, sugar. a graceful soul like yours is welcome around me anytime."

Lust used Flirt! It was effective in making you smile.

"I'm flattered, and I'll be sure to let my brother know you've been flirting with me. I recommend you hide now while you still can."

This was said in a relatively dry tone of voice, but the smile gave it away as a joke- nice. All you needed now was a Gaster to volunteer, and-

"You may check me as well, dear."

How convenient, you now had four kittens to check. Nice.

"Alright then, please line up beside the jigsaw puzzle, and the rest of you feel free to watch."

Rubbing your eyes a bit to wake them up, you listened as the four volunteers complied, and the other kittens shuffled around to get better views. Razz- naturally- climbed up onto your shoulder for the best view of them all... that adorable diva.

Once everyone was ready, you opened your eyes and focused your magic on the scars within them, soon producing a beautiful silver mist as your arcane sight activated. The kitten on your shoulder swiped at the mist, causing it to scatter, but you didn't react other than a quick, surprised blink. It appeared that the kittens had a blanket of magic surrounding their forms in various pale colors, making their bodies quite easily visible to you, but their souls were slightly more difficult to see due to it... how interesting.

"Alright, Papyrus, you're up first."

It was time to see whether your theory was correct.

"I WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS! ER, AT LEAST, I WOULD IF I COULD."

With that, the two of you entered a confrontation, and your souls became visible to each other.

**[FLOW] [ACT] [ITEM] [EBB]**

_*You chose the ACT button._

***Check *Admire**   
***Speak *Silence**

_*You chose to CHECK your opponent._

***Papyrus (Undertale)**   
***HP: ??? _(Eff: Bewitched)_**   
***ATK: ?? DEF: ??**   
***LV: ? EXP: ?**   
***LST: ? AP: ?**   
***Armor: Battle Body**   
***Weapon: Collar**   
***He likes to say: "Nyeh heh heh!"**

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

Once his turn was over, you decided to end the confrontation, an expression of slight bewilderment upon your face.

"Your various stats are obscured, and you've got an... interesting status effect. Sans, you're up next."

The silver mist around your eyes trailed behind slightly with your movement towards the Classic Sans, and a second encounter began.

**[FLOW] [ACT] [ITEM] [EBB]**

_*You chose to ACT quickly, skipping the other options to CHECK your opponent._

**Sans (Undertale)**   
***HP: ? _(Eff: Bewitched)_**   
***ATK: ? DEF: ?**   
***LV: ? EXP: ?**   
***LST: ?? AP: ??**   
***Armor: Comfortable Jacket**   
***Weapon: Collar**   
***The easiest enemy. Can only deal 1 damage.**

"sup."

The confrontation ended, and you hummed thoughtfully, beginning to notice a pattern.

Lust was up next.

**[FLOW] [ACT] [ITEM] [EBB]**

_You decided to ACT quickly and CHECK your opponent._

**Sans (UnderLust)**   
***HP: ? _(Eff: Bewitched)_**   
***ATK: ? DEF: ?**   
***LV: ? EXP: ?**   
***LST: ?? AP: ???**   
***Armor: Comfortable Vest**   
***Weapon: Collar**   
***The easiest.**

"your soul is gorgeous, sugar. can i have a taste later?"

A slight blush forming on your face, you quickly ended the encounter, and moved on to Starlord. He'd volunteered next, after all.

**[FLOW] [ACT] [ITEM] [EBB]**

_You decided to ACT quickly, and your opponent graciously allowed you to CHECK him._

**W.D. Gaster (Outertale)**   
***HP: ?????? _(Eff: Bewitched)_**   
***ATK: ???? DEF: ????**   
***LV: ?? EXP: ?????**   
***LST: ? AP: ??**   
***Armor: Space Cape**   
***Weapon: Collar**   
***Friendly star system destroyer. Is curious about this universe's history.**

"You said that you were Immortal. I haven't met any true Immortals yet. Would you like to discuss this over some tea later?"

Ending the confrontation, you slowly scooted away from the Outertale Gaster, a blank expression upon your face as you answered and promptly redirected the conversation.

"That would be lovely. Now, what I've noticed from the scan is that all of you have obscured stats, the bewitched status effect, and a collar as a weapon. The obscured stats can be explained by the bewitched effect or your own conscious will, so I'll ignore that for now."

Starlord, sounding slightly disappointed by your retreat, inquired what most of the skelekits were currently thinking.

"What does this mean, if I may ask?"

Allowing the mist to dissipate and your arcane sight to fade, you returned your main focus to the jigsaw puzzle, and placed the blank pieces where they belonged as you spoke.

"Well, from my experiences, the bewitched status effect means that a Witch Immortal has placed a general enchantment of some sort onto your body- or in this case, multiple general enchantments. Witches specialize in natural spell magic and object-slash-amulet enchantment, so whatever is affecting you is likely being worn."

As the skelekits began to glance at their own small articles of clothing- particularly their hoodies and scarves and cloaks- with a measure of worry as to whether they'd have to give up these things or not, you placed down another few pieces and continued.

"Now, the collars... Typically, collars are classified as armor, unless they've been weaponized by someone else. For example, the shock collars of the early twenty-first century. They don't protect their wearers, and are activated by outside means. This means that those collars you're wearing aren't for your benefit, but the benefit of another. Given your bewitched status, it would be safe to assume that whoever put those collars on was the Witch who spelled you. It's easier to spell multiple items of the same type at the same time than it is to spell multiple items separately."

Your brows furrowed slightly as you held the last piece of the puzzle between your fingertips, and paused to speak your thoughts aloud.

"What I wonder is how they managed to make general enchantments affect your bodies in such an extreme way- assuming that you were mostly skeletons, that is, like the Sans and Papyrus of this world. Unfortunately, I don't have much more information on this matter- my brother knows much more about magitech and biotechnology than I do."

With that, you placed down the final piece, and the blank jigsaw puzzle began to flicker and form its single image of completion. The white tiles were colored and shaded, until the frame of an open doorway with tendrils of the darkest black wrapping around it from the opposite side appeared, a warm glow of reddish-brown light shown shining from the center of the room beyond it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LST and AP were created with Optima_chama. Soul Color Rules of Magic and Silver Soul Encounter Options were also created with Optima. These are a part of her Chaos & Color Magic Theory, which is still under development.

**Author's Note:**

> ~AU Skelly Nicknames~  
> Undertale- Sans, Papyrus, Gaster  
> UnderSwap- Blueberry, Honey, River  
> UnderFell- Red, Edge, Fell  
> FellSwap- Raspberry, Caramel, Rapids  
> StoryShift- Chara, Asriel, Flowey  
> UnderMafia- Mafioso, Sniper, Consigliere  
> UnderLust- Lust, Flush, Desire  
> DanceTale- HipHop, Latin, Waltz  
> OuterTale- Orion, Pluto, Stars  
> ReaperTale- Death, Reaper, Magic  
> UnderTone- Tone  
> ScienceTale- Sci  
> Epictale- Epic  
> Aftertale- Geno  
> Errortale- Error  
> Inktale- Ink


End file.
